Were the Vikings all that bad?

Here is an article from National Geographic suggesting that accounts of Vikings as ferocious predators were somewhat exaggerated, especially by the literate clergy who wrote these accounts and were frequently victimized by them.

Viking Weapon Recycling

The famed Norse warriors, many of whom settled parts of eastern and northern England in the Middle Ages, recycled as they fought, new excavations in the United Kingdom suggest. READ MORE

New Evidence on the Black Death Courtesy of the Onion

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/rat_shit_covered_physicians

Updated Instructions for Final

Just to make sure everyone understands:

-The final will consist of TWO essays rather than the 3 I originally announced.

-You may choose ANY TWO of the questions I have posted. You are not required to answer Part A. However I would strongly advise History Majors who will be taking the Senior Comps to answer Part A because it is the question I will ask for this class.

-Essays should be 4-5 pages.

-You will be graded on how well your answer reflects an understanding of the course content and how well you use examples from the course readings.

-All work will be due at 1pm on Wednesday of finals week. I will be in my office between 12 and 1. Late work will be penalized. Hard copies only please.

Modern Day Apparitions

Medieval culture had an "enchanted" worldview in which the miraculous was part of everyday life. All levels of society believed that the supernatural was woven into the fabric of the visible world. Many people believed these forces made themselves apparent in the contexts of their ordinary lives as they worked in their fields, workshops, and houses. A big part of what separates modernity from the more distant past is the so-called "disenchantment" of the world as the Scientific Revolution and the secularization of politics and society changed how the western world viewed the natural world. However these ties with our cultural past have not been completely cut as this gallery shows.

Readings for Black Death Book

In the interests of making the most out of the little time we have left I'm going to narrow the focus of our discussion of the Black Death book to the cultural response, which will fit in well with the more general "collapse of the medieval synthesis" that is the subject of your final. Therefore, we will give particular focus to Parts 5-7, which covers some of the episodes of mass hysteria as well as artistic representations of the plague. It should be fun...